Whilst having a clear out of the vestry, we have found a stack of George Walker’s very informative book, “Faith, Hope and Charity.” If you would like a copy, please help yourself from the pile at the back of church. We are inviting a small donation to church funds in return. This can be left in the wall safe by the door or you can use the card reader.There are also a few copies of a parish recipe book we produced a few years ago and church notelets.
Welcome to the fourth Churchwardens’ Corner. We hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and wish you all a happy and peaceful New Year.Christmas was extremely busy. We were delighted to welcome all three primary schools in the parish, either for their Christmas performances or Carol Services. The children from Kingsfield Nursery also visited to listen to the Christmas story and to see our Nativity figures. We held a Carol Service, a Christingle Service, Crib Service as well as the usual Midnight and Christmas Day Services. The Carol Service was led by the Wheatsheaf Consort, which was a real treat as they sang some really beautiful songs and carols as well as the usual ones to which the congregation joined in and, coupled with some poems and Bible readings, this made for a truly memorable evening. We were able to catch up after the service over mincepies and mulled wine. The Christingle Service and Crib Service were organised and led by the members of the Mothers’ Union and the Parochial Church Council (PCC) respectively and they did a great job, so many thanks to them for their hard work. We managed to book (in June!) the Rt. Revd Gavin Collins, Bishop of Dorchester to lead our Midnight Service and he did this with his usual mix of spirituality and informality (and we learnt that his favourite Christmas movie is Die Hard!) To round off this very busy time the Rev’d Hazel Scarr came to Bodicote to lead our 9.45 am Christmas Service and she did this beautifully. Numbers were up for all these services which is extremely pleasing and we would like to thank everyone for their support. The church looked festive and special thanks must go to the Christmas tree decorators and the ladies who decorated the church with seasonal flowers.Our normal pattern of services are continuing with a new addition: a Sunday Club on the fourth Sunday of each month, during the 9.45 am service. Children will be invited to go over to Church House after the first hymn to do activities and listen to Bible stories, leaving their parents/carers to participate in the service. They will then be collected by parents to return to church in time for the communion and final hymn. Please consider if this would be something you would find worthwhile to pursue (more details can be found on page ??? of this magazine).In terms of the vacancy, thanks are also due to everyone who has contributed to the question ‘What type of vicar would you like?’ via the boxes situated in church, Church House and the schools. These thoughts have been very useful in helping the PCC to compile our Parish Profile, a document which will be made available to any clergy person who feels called to work here. This gives a background to the church, parish, and what we could offer a priest, together with the things we would like help to develop. The timetable has now been set and the advertisement will appear on the 14th March with a closing date of 7th April and shortlisting will take place on the 10th April. Hopefully we shall have a strong field of candidates and the interviews will take place on Thursday, 8th May.We are now turning our thoughts to Lent and would like to encourage you to join us for one or all of our Lent Lunches of homemade soup and bread (on Thursdays 13th and 27th March and 10th April) and the Easter Bazaar on Saturday 5th April, together with special services for Holy Week commencing 13th April (details to follow). The Diocese are once again running a ‘Come and See’ Lent course which this year will look at Baptism. Individuals can sign up to receive daily emails and a weekly video from the Bishop of Oxford: https://oxford.anglican.org/come-and-see gives full details.Everyone is working extremely hard to maintain our usual social events (Afternoon Teas (1st, 3rd and 5th Wednesdays), and monthly Bingo sessions, together with a new initiative - Craft Afternoons for children and parents. The Christmas one was very successful and an Easter one is planned for Saturday 29th March (Details on p. ??? of this magazine)Our thanks must, once again, be extended to the visiting clergy who give their time to drive to Bodicote to take our services Sunday by Sunday. We absolutely couldn’t carry on without them and the support we receive from the PCC and the congregation. We are so very grateful. Lynne Philpot and Rob Kirk
